Information about Check Point VPN-1/FireWall-1

Here you find some
further information about Check Point R70 and above, NGX
and VPN-1/FireWall-1 Next Generation.

Latest
Versions:

The latest version is
R77.
It has all advantages as
R76 (intgegrated Multi-Domain Security Management, Virtual Systems,
Endpoint Policy Management Blade), but additionally many bugfixes. It also
intrduces the Threat Emulation Software Blade as well as the Compliance
Blade. Additionally, HyperSPECT Technlology is introduced. It delivers a
much higher performance, esp. for IPS, APCL and URLF. If you want to
have the new look and feel of SmartCosole as introduced with R75.40VS,
please use R77 only due to stability reasons and included bugfixes

Version R75 introduced the Application
Control Software Blade, Identity Awareness, the Integrated DLP Software
Blade and Mobile Access blade.
Before, R71
has been published in May 2010. New Software Blades for DLP and SmartEvent
have been published with it. It's based on R70. This version introduced Software Blades, making the
licensing very modular. Because R7x is a new major release, a new
license is needed to get access to all new features. Please contact
your reseller to obtain it.

Please be aware that Check Point has changed
the
licensing for RAS - today, you need an Endpoint Security
Container with Service Blades for the use of e.g. VPN, Full Disk
Encryption or Endpoint Security Secure Access.

Licenses for NGX and earlier will only work with R70.
Since R71 the new
licensing scheme using Software Blades is strictly enforced. If you
haven't updated yet, please do it. In most cases you can do it for free
in your Check Point UserCenter account.

Other versions (R70, NGX R65, NGX R62, NGX R61, and NGX R60) were officially
supported until March 2013 and earlier only. If you cannot
upgrade, please contact your reseller to obtain (restricted) support. A
quarterly fee per system is due. If you still have NG AI (e.g. R54/R55) or NGX
before R65
in production, please upgrade as soon as possible!

Latest
Hotfixes:

Please note: To obtain a
HFA for any version, you will need a valid Software Subscription (CES)
for all of your products registered in your UserCenter Account!

R77:July 2014 has brought us R77.20. This version introduces new
possibilities like e.g. Multicore support for SSL VPN, a new upgrade
procedure for Clusters as well as some further fixes and enhancements.In January 2014 the first version of R77.10 had been published. Some
improvements for GAiA are delivered. Besides this, Remote Access has been
improved (supporting IPv6, VSX, Push Notifications, Remote Wipe etc.) and
an integrated "Appliance Hardware Diagnostic Tool" has been introduced.
The second version had been published in April 2014, delivering more
enhancements.

R76:Even if there were rumours about R76.10 fixing many problems in
R76, this HFA is still pending. Many fixes are included in R77, so this
version is currently recommended.

R75:
In July 2012, Check Point has released R75.40VS.
This version has integrated VSX which is now also licensed by using
Software Blades. Besides this, a modified GUI comes with this version.
The latest hotfix of the regular version is
R75.47.
Please be aware
that currently no direct upgrade from R75.47 to R77 is possible.
It includes many fixes and has all features of R75.40
and subsequent HFAs.
This release delivered many new features as well as the new Operating
System called GAIA. It includes all bufixes that were published with
R75.30.
The release before (R75.20)
started offering many improvements regarding URL filtering combined
with new features regarding DLP as well as SSL inspection for IPS,
APCL, URLF, and DLP.
The earlier published R75.10 delivers some improvements
like e.g. better performance for the GUI, support of Edge Firmware 8.2
and SecuRemote R75.10.

R71:
In May 2012, version R71.50
has been published. It shows some
improvements in comparison with the earlier version R71.45, e.g.
support of Security Gateway 80.
These versions deliver more functionality and compatibility, as also
R71.40 does.
These two versions offer direct upgrade to R75.40, but R71.50 does this
currently not.
When using the SSL VPN Software Blade (i.e. Mobile Access Blade),
please use at least version R71.10, since there is a security
problem when using SSL VPN in R71 without patch.

R70:
The latest version of R70 is R70.50.
If you plan an upgrade to R75.40, a direct upgrade is possible (but not
to earlier versions). Using R70.30 might still be useful if an
upgrade to other version as R75.40 is planned. Some important
improvements as well as more
features (to be licensed) have been introduced with Version R70.20.
It's available for all users of R70. At least this version should be
used in productive environments. As usual, please regard that the GUI
needs to be of the same version as the Security Management, e.g. SmartConsole
70.30 for the corresponding versions of R70. Please be aware that this
version isn't supported any more by Check Point.

NGX R65:
When using this (outdated and no more supported) version, you should
use HFA_70 for NGX R65. Since December
2007 the corresponding GUI für Microsoft Windows is SmartConsole NGX R65 HFA_01.
Please be aware that neither this nor elder versions are supported any
more by Check Point.

We provide these information freely. If you have corrections,
comments or suggestions, please feel free to contact us by E-Mail.
All information is provided "as is" and might be used at your own risk
only. There is no guarantee at all and we are not liable for any
consequential direct or indirect damage which might occur when using
these hints. All mentioned names and products are protected by
international law, esp. Check Point Software Technologies, Ltd.